The present invention is directed to a low cost data storage and communication system. More particularly, the present invention relates to an universal and detachable low cost data storage and communication system.
There have been continuous development in the universal and detachable storage and communication system having detachable cards such as memory cards or I/O interfaces. These systems usually comprise a host and at least one detachable card connected to the host for providing different functions to the system. Based on different system requirements, each card may provide different functions such as being as storage device, or as a modem. Due to the capability of supporting multiple cards in a same system, the combinations provided by these cards are unlimited.
In general, these multicard systems are designed for use in a wide area of applications such as electronic toys, organizers, PDAs, cameras, smart phones, digital recorders, pagers, etc. Targeted features are high mobility and high performance at low cost price. For example, extra storage can be added to any application systems (i.e. the host), or I/O interfaces can be provided for the host to communicate with other systems.
In some circumstances, the cards of the multicard systems can be preloaded with application software and/or data and then sold to consumers to be used with the multicard system. In addition, the card can also comprise EEPROM or FLASH memory so that software and data can be preloaded and changed by the multicard host. The use of the multicard system as a storage device is versatile that any prestored database (e.g. dictionary, phone books, etc.) can be connected to the multicard system when needed.
However, the designers have been facing continuous obstacles in allowing the multicard systems to accept cards made from different vendors. The problems, for example, are incompatibility of operating voltages, and error correction protocols, etc.
Therefore, this invention is designed to solve the abovementioned problems.